1st Edition

The Path of Flames Understanding and Responding to Fatal Wildfires

Edited By Ashley Kendell, Alison Galloway, Colleen Milligan Copyright 2024
400 Pages 67 Color & 6 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

400 Pages 67 Color & 6 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

The Path of Flames : Understanding and Responding to Fatal Wildfires is an edited volume covering the complexities of response and recovery issues relative to catastrophic wildfires. As wildfires become more frequent throughout the world—and the loss of life greater, especially among residents trapped in the path of the flames—it is essential that agencies in fire-prone areas understand the... Read more

SECTION I: OVERVIEW OF WILDFIRES AND WILDFIRE FATALITIES

1. Wildfires: Introduction, Impact, Policy, and Planning

2. Fatal Wildland Fires

John D. DeHaan

3. An International Perspective on Fatal Wildfires

Gavrill Xanthopolouos and Alison Galloway

 

SECTION II: WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

 

4. Incident Command System: Resolving a Clash of Cultures

Nader Owels and Jason Hadjuk

5. Incident Command Role in Coordination: International Perspective

Damon P. Coppola and Brad Milliken

6. Law Enforcement Response to Wildfire

Joshua Brazzi, Stephen Collins, Jason Hail, and Jake Smith

7. Organization of the Fire Response: Establishing Priorities and the Future of Wildfire Management

David Russell and Jason Martin

8. Fire Investigation Overview

Tom Oldag and Tim Enright

 

SECTION III: MASS FATALITY RESPONSE

 

9. Human Behavior in Fire as Evidenced by Wildfire Fatalities

Alison Galloway and Casey Hegel

10. How Human Bodies Burn: The process of thermal damage, body movement, and shifting fuel loads

Alison Galloway, Chelsey Juarez, and Elayne Pope

11. Deployment Strategies for SAR/USAR Teams

Kyle Wilson, David R Bibby, Carla Halford, and Alison Galloway

12. Search and Recovery Protocols for Victims of Large-Scale Wildfires

Eric J. Bartelink, Ashley E. Kendell, Colleen F. Milligan, P. Willey, and Alison Galloway

13. To Be Ready: Preparations for Fatal Wildfire Recovery Operations

Alison Galloway, Eric J. Bartelink, Timothy P. Gocha, and Marin Pilloud

 

SECTION IV: POST-RECOVERY PROCESSES FOLLOWING A MASS FATALITY

 

14. Morgue Operations during a Mass Fatality Event

Kim Gin        

15. Role of the Forensic Pathologist in the Wake of a Fatal Wildfire

Dierdre Amaro

16. Forensic Odontology in the Identification of Wildfire Victims

Jim Wood

17. Anthropological Responses in Post-Recovery Analysis

Lauren Zephro and Alison Galloway

18. A Practical Guide for Implementation of Rapid DNA Identification in Mass Fatality Events: Lessons Learned from the 2018 Camp Fire

Richard F. Selden, Rosemary Turingan Witkowski, and Eugene Tan

19. Operation Northleigh: The Grenfell Tower Disaster Victim Identification Process

Gaille MacKinnon and Gillian Fowler

 

SECTION V: THE IMPACT OF WILDFIRES

      

20. Demographics and Locational Analyses of Wildfire Victims

Casey Hegel, Samuel Mijal, Jacquelyn Chase, and Peter Hansen

21. Demography of Recent California Fire Fatalities Compared with Early California Wildfire and Australian Bushfire Fatalities

P. Willey and Samuel Mijal

22. Psychological Effects of Mass Disasters on First-Responders

Carolyn G. La Jeunesse

23. Concluding Thoughts and Lessons Learned                  

Biography

Ashley Kendell, Ph.D., is  an Associate Professor and Forensic Anthropologist at California State University, Chico (Chico State). She is also a POST-certified instructor who teaches forensic anthropology and archaeology through the Institute of Criminal Investigation. Prior to beginning her position at Chico State, she was a visiting professor at the University of Montana and the forensic anthropologist for the state of Montana. While completing her doctorate at Michigan State University she worked as a Medico-legal Death Investigator and was a Registry Diplomate of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators for five years.

Alison Galloway, Ph.D., D-ABFA is a board-certified forensic anthropologist and Professor Emerita from University of California, Santa Cruz. She has worked on wildfire recovery including the Camp, Almeda and Caldor Fires and taught for 12 years with a fatal fire investigation course. She has edited books on human evolution, blunt force trauma, and forensic anthropology and the US judicial system.

Colleen Milligan, Ph.D., D-ABFA is a Professor and Chair of Anthropology at California State University, Chico (Chico State). She is a board-certified foresnic anthropologist and Co-Director of the Human Identification Lab at Chico State. The Human Identification Lab at Chico State regularly provides forensic anthropological analysis, recovery services, and mass disaster/mass fatality response services for law enforcement throughout California. Prior to her position at Chico State, she was a Fellow with the Department of Homeland Security.